This is the basket with a nasturtium plant that I overwintered indoors (next to a south-facing window) this past fall, winter, and early spring. Because it got that great head-start for the season, it's flowering already (began about 10-14 days ago).
In contrast, this is a nasturtium plant that I started from seed this spring indoors (under lights) before transplanting out to the baskets. Nice, but not ready for picking. I read online that nasturtiums don't transplant well. Well, they did for me. Every single plant is thriving.
When I pick the flowers for salads, I gently wash them in the bowl with the other greens. After a light pat dry, I remove the petals from the stem. There are 5 petals to each blossom. So, that's 5 whole petals per blossom tossed in the salad. A few blossoms will add a nice touch of color to a family-sized salad. They have a mild radish flavor, just a little peppery. In addition to salads, chopped fresh blossoms are a nice addition to bean spread sandwiches.
I also use the leaves from the nasturtium plants. I pick young leaves and wash with the other greens. I remove the rest of the stem from the back side of the leaf, then tear into 3 or 4 pieces.
The leaves can be used in salads, on sandwiches, in green smoothies, or to make pesto. They have a peppery taste, much like watercress.
In addition to adding color to my garden and flavor to our salads and sandwiches, nasturtiums are also beneficial in the flower and vegetable garden by attracting hover flies/syrphid flies. Hover flies eat aphids in enormous amounts. Planting nasturtiums in the garden can be a non-toxic part of the insect control program. Beauty, edible, pest control -- win, win, win for my garden!
